The present invention relates to hosiery, and particularly to socks.
It is customary in the manufacture of socks to knit the socks so that when the unworn sock lies flat the foot portion of the sock is at an obtuse angle to the leg portion of the sock, as shown in FIG. 1. Such socks and their production are well known in the art and, thus, further discussion thereof will not be provided herein. The problem with such prior art socks is that the foot and ankle of most human beings are not normally at an obtuse angle to one another. The vast majority of the time, the ankle and foot are at substantially 90 degrees to one another. This 90°angle requires that the prior art socks be stretched in order to fit on the wearer's foot and ankle in the most frequent position of the foot relative to the ankle, i.e., 90°.
Furthermore, the leg portion of the sock which covers at least a portion of the leg of the wearer is cylindrically shaped and of a uniform diameter. Elastic is normally knitted into the leg portion of the sock so that the sock can stretch and contract to conform to the shape of the leg. As is known, the lower leg of most human beings is not of uniform diameter, but instead tapers downwardly from the calf to the shin. This change in diameter of the lower leg causes the sock to stretch and after repeated use frequently results in the elastic in the sock becoming “stretched out” and not staying up on the leg.